Tame a Wild Wind (4 page)

The tea kettle began to whistle.
 
“Would you like a cup of tea?
 
I find it helps me sleep.
 
It’s chamomile.”

“Sure, why not,” he said as he pulled out a chair for her.

“So tell me about Sam Colter.
 
Who is he?”
 
She put some of the chamomile tea in the bottom of the cups and poured hot water over it then covered the cups with cheesecloth to steep.

“You know most everything.”

She smiled.
 
“Tell me what I don’t know.
 
You said you were passing through.
 
Passing through to where?”

“I was on my way to Denver.
 
Been searching for a man.”

Cassie cocked her head.
 
“Are you a bounty hunter now?

“No.
 
This is personal.”
 
He debated in silence.
 
He ran his fingers through his hair and worried his lower lip.
 
He looked around the room before he continued.
 
“You might as well know.
 
It may alter how you feel about hiring me.
 
I’m chasing a man named Harry Borden.”

“Wasn’t Frank Borden the man who killed your wife and kids?”

“Yes.
 
Harry is his younger brother.”

“Why are you looking for him?”
 

“Actually, he was looking, is probably still looking for me.
 
He blames me for the death of his brother.
  
Rightly so.
 
I made sure that bastard,” he slammed his fist on the table, “Frank, swung from a rope.”

Sam had more control now.
 
She could tell he was angry and still hurting but he wasn’t shouting and he didn’t spit the words out as he had before.

“I have to ask, do you think he’ll come here?”
 
She pushed some wayward strands of hair away from her face.
 
“Should I be worried about my family?”

“I don’t think so, but I do believe there is no better place for him to find me than here, with Duncan to protect my back.
 
If you want to rescind your offer, that is completely understandable.”

Cassie thought about it before answering.
 
The man was honest with her and he didn’t have to be.
 
He could have omitted the information, come to work for her and let her find out when the Borden brother showed up, but he didn’t.
 
He’d come clean.

“I’m not changing my mind.
 
I am going to take precautions though.
 
I don’t want my children in danger.”

“That’s the last thing I want.
 
If for one minute I thought my presence would put them in danger, I wouldn’t be here.
 
And I wouldn’t go to work for you.”

“Mommy.”
 
Sarah appeared at the kitchen door holding her rag doll in one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other.

“Sarah, sweetie, what are you doing up.”
 
Cassie lifted her baby in to her arms.
 
She still had the sweet baby smell and Cassie couldn’t help but take a big whiff of her as she kissed her tiny head.

“I
tirsty
.”
 

“Alright, I’ll get you some water then it’s right back to bed for you young lady.”

Sarah tucked her head under her mother’s chin.
 
“Hi, Sam.
 
Was you
tirsty
too?”

Sam chuckled.
 
“Yeah, I was thirsty, too.”

“You have to wait for Mommy to put you to bed.
 
She’s got to do me first.”

Cassie’s cheeks burned.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck but smiled at Sarah.
 
“Don’t worry, Sweet.
 
Your Mommy will put you to bed as soon as you drink that water.
 
Are you done now?”
 
He reached for her cup.

“Yup.
 
Done.”
 
She handed the cup to Sam who put it on the counter.
 
No doubt there would be another child who would need a drink before the night was through.
 
There was just too much excitement for them to fall asleep easily.

No sooner had he thought it than Lizzie and Mary both showed up in the kitchen doorway.

“I suppose you girls are thirsty,” said Sam.

They nodded in unison.

“I’m taking Sarah to bed.
 
I expect you two to be up as soon as you finish your drink.
 
Okay?”
 
Cassie admonished the girls as she carried Sarah from the room.
 
“Don’t dawdle, now.”

Again, they nodded in unison.

“G’nite Sam,” Sarah called and waved furiously over her mother’s shoulder.

“Goodnight, Sweet,”
 
Sam smiled at the receding figure of woman and child.
 
It would be all to easy to get used to this.

CHAPTER 3

Cassie had them on the road before dinner.
 
She’d gotten everyone fed, helped Catherine wash up and change her clothes, let all the kids ooh and
aah
over Conner and was putting the finishing touches on the kitchen when James and Alice arrived.
 
Of course, there were the customary ‘hellos’ and a quick rundown of their grandson’s birth but now Cassie was anxious to head home.
 

Without a foreman, it worried her to be gone for long.
 
Her wranglers were the best, but even the best needed guidance.
 
And Bridget needed a break.
 
The woman could only do so much by herself.
 
After all she was nearing sixty.
 
Bridget came with Michael.
 
She was Michael’s nanny and now helped Cassie do the cooking, was the housekeeper but most important of all, she was the Sarah wrangler.
 
Keeping track of Sarah was a full time job.

Bridget stayed when Michael died.
 
She said she wasn’t going anywhere her babies weren’t.
 
RJ and Sarah were as attached to Bridget as she was to them.
 
She spoiled them rotten.
 
Always baking cookies and making sure they each got one with milk in the afternoon.
 

Cassie always thought it would ruin their dinner, but Bridget scoffed. “They drink their milk this way,” she’d say.
 
And she was right.
 
Bridget wouldn’t give them a cookie if they didn’t drink the milk.
 
They each tried it once and no cookies the next day.

She drove the buggy and Sam rode beside them on his horse for the first few minutes.
 
Sarah was so excited she kept trying to talk to Sam and nearly fell out of the buggy.
 
Cassie finally stopped, Sam tied his horse to the back of the buggy and he climbed in.
 
Sarah was ecstatic and climbed immediately into Sam’s lap.
 
She chattered for the entire trip.
 
Who’d have thought she could talk for an hour.

“I’m sorry.
 
She’s taken a real shine to you.
  
Sarah’s not normally this forward with strangers.”

Sam looked down at Sarah and rubbed her little back.
 
His big hand almost covered her entire back.
 
Cassie felt her heart start to melt.
 
What was it with men and children?
 
When she saw a man who genuinely liked kids, she softened.
 
She hadn’t met that many men who did like kids.
 
James, Duncan, Michael and now Sam.
 
That’s not a lot.
 
They were special, these men.

What did it mean that Sam, tall gorgeous Sam, with his wavy brown hair that she wanted to run her fingers through, was also so good with her kids?
 
What was it about him that attracted her like no one else since Michael?
 
It wasn’t just his green eyes, dimples and whiskey brown hair.
 
There was something deeper.
 
Something unseen that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

The trip home took about an hour and due to Sarah’s incessant chattering and telling Sam everything she knew, Cassie was quiet and let her thoughts wander back to Sam and the instant attraction she had to him.
 
Did he feel it too?
 
Or was it all in her head?
 
Perhaps she was so lonely she was only seeing what she wanted to see.

As they pulled into the yard, one of the ranch hands came up and held the horse steady while everyone got down, then he took the buggy with Sam’s horse, Socks, still tied to the back, to the barn.

“Come on in.
 
I’ll show you to your room.”
 
She looked down at her children.
 
“You two go to the kitchen and see if Bridget has any cookies.
 
I bet Sarah wants to tell her all about baby Conner and the new kittens you saw.”
 
They ran off chattering with excitement.
 
Arguing who was going to tell Bridget first.

Cassie laughed.
 
“Let’s get you settled.
 
All the bedrooms are upstairs.
 
There are two bedrooms on either side of the hall and the master at the end.
 
This first room on the right is Bridget’s, across the hall is RJ, next to him is the nursery and Sarah.
 
The guest room is the last door on the right.”
 
Cassie opened the door and walked through.
 
There was a double sized iron bed, a tall boy dresser and a commode with pitcher and basin.
 
A chamber pot was tucked behind a screen in the corner with a wardrobe in the corner across from that.
 
“This is the largest of the bedrooms except the master.
 
None of it is as grand as Duncan and Catherine’s place.
 
Michael and I were going to expand and remodel but we never seems to get around to it.
 
I wanted to tear the whole thing down and start over.
 
I hate this house.
 
I grew up here and there are not happy memories for me here.”

“I’m honored to be sleeping in your bed.”

Cassie’s entire face burned.
 
She looked up at Sam and his green eyes were dancing with
mishief
.
 

“Sorry.
 
I couldn’t resist.”

“A good sense of humor , too.
 
You’re going to take some getting used to, Sam Colter.”
 
Then ignoring her embarrassment, she was back to business.
 
“The outhouse is in back.
 
Breakfast is at 5:30, dinner at noon and supper at five.
 
The kitchen is always open and if you take the last cup of coffee you better make a new pot.
 
Do you have any questions right now?”

 
“Dozens.
 
First you best introduce me to your ranch hands.”

“I’ll do that at dinner which,” she looked out the window at the shadows left by the ever rising sun.
 
“I better get started.
 
If you want, you can go look around and get a feel for the operation.
 
I’m sorry I can’t show you around, but if I don’t get dinner ready I’ll have a riot on my hands.
 
Sunday dinner is always fried chicken, just so you know.
  
Week day dinners are sandwiches and usually a stew or chili to go with it.?”

“No problem.
 
I’d like the chance to look around on my own anyway.
 
Other than Duncan’s I’ve never seen a horse ranch.”

“I think you’ll find it interesting.”
 
Cassie left him to unpack and settle in.

*****

Sam walked around the ranch.
 
There were the typical out buildings he expected to find, barn, bunkhouse, ice house, pump house in the yard outside the kitchen, which was a surprise.
 
Most pumps he’d seen didn’t have a building around them.
 
He supposed it was to protect it in the winter from the cold and snow.
 
Then out in back of the barn the new improvements began.
 

The stable was a large rectangular building.
 
From the outside there was a double door on each of the north and south ends.
 
The east and west sides had eight single doors.
 
Each one opened on to a paddock for the individual horse.

On the inside were eight stalls on either side of a long wide aisle.
 
On the north end there was a large stall full of straw for padding the other stalls.
 
Opposite that was the tack room and an office.

In each of the stalls was a thoroughbred.
 
A stallion, filly or mare.
 
The most beautiful horses Sam had ever seen.
 
All of the horses were tall, long legged and deep chested.
 
Most were chestnut brown with various markings like stars on their foreheads or white socks.

Five of the mares had foals with them.
 
Another three looked ready to foal at any time.
 
There were five stallions between the ages of two and ten according to the signs on their gates.
 
There were three fillies.
 
One of which, Delilah, was supposed to be shipped to Kentucky within a fortnight.

There was a large corral full of mustangs with a smaller corral next to it for breaking them to the saddle for the army.
 
Last, at the far back of the ranch, was a large oval track, ostensibly for training the thoroughbreds to race.

He’d seen a horse race when he and Jane went back east for their honeymoon.
 
Somewhere between seven and ten horses raced around the track with a tiny man called a jockey on their backs.
 
The smaller and lighter the jockey the better and faster the horse would be able to run.
 
He wondered where Cassie had found a jockey in these parts.

Sam headed back to the house.
 
He went in through the front door wanting to familiarize himself with the layout.
 
From the front door you looked straight at the stairs.
 
To the left of the stairs was a door leading to the formal dining room and the kitchen.
 
It didn’t appear that the dining room got much use.
 
The table and chairs were covered with sheets to protect them from dust.

To the right of the stairs was a hallway with the parlor and Cassie’s office.
 
Simple, functional.
 
The whole house was simple, functional.
 
There was little of the woman herself in the décor and certainly nothing cheerful.

The kids’ rooms were different.
 
Sarah’s room was covered in bright yellow paint, mobiles on the ceiling, toys and discarded clothing covered the floor.

Cassie came up behind him.
 
“I usually just close the doors.
 
It works well for me.
 
I’m not going to constantly clean up after them.
 
For RJ, I don’t do anything but change his bed.
 
He’s old enough to do his own cleaning.
 
I’m a terrible nag about it if it gets too bad.
 

“Sarah is still small enough that I do clean her room, but she has to help.
 
She picks up her toys, or at least one or two of them, while I clean.
 
She’s usually too busy chattering at me about what her dolly did to get too much picked up.”

Sam chuckled.
 
Sarah proved to be precocious and very entertaining.
 
He didn’t know if she would continue to be so or he’d think her a little pain in the ass after a while.
 
But he doubted it.
 
She was just too sweet and reminded him so much of his own two girls.

“So what do you think of the place?” asked Cassie.

“I think it’s amazing.
 
I haven’t seen any place like this outside of Kentucky.
 
Of course, I haven’t been to a lot of horse farms even in Kentucky.
 
Jane and I went back east for our honeymoon and saw a horse race in New York.”

“Michael and I spent our honeymoon and more back in Kentucky.
 
We found our partner, a man who was willing to talk to us about our dream and interested enough to show us his operation, with the proviso that he be the only customer for our horses.
 
We agreed and it’s been beneficial for us, this season will prove whether it’s beneficial for him as well.
 
I have great hopes for one of our colts and a little filly.
 
They both run like the wind, at least by themselves.
 
I haven’t been able to race them against each other yet.”

“Where did you find a jockey out here?”

“I didn’t.
 
I’m the jockey.”

Sam stopped dead in his tracks.
 
“You? But women aren’t jockey’s.”

“Yes.
 
Me.
 
I am the only one small enough.
 
Michael was a big man like you.
 
He couldn’t be out there on their backs.
 
We have some teenage boys who can ride but not in the racing saddle.
 
I learned when we were at Jason’s farm.
 
Jason Gedding is our partner.
 
He has a small horse farm outside of Louisville, Kentucky.
 
Anyway, Jason’s head jockey taught me to ride so I could train the horses.
 
I still do it myself.
 
Do you have a problem with that?”